Toy vehicle with adjustable mass that changes driving characteristics

ABSTRACT

In an aspect, a toy vehicle is provided and includes a main body, wheels and a power source. The main body includes a fixed portion and a movable portion that is movably connected to the fixed position for movement between a first movable portion position and a second movable portion position, which moves the center of gravity of the vehicle to a first or second position respectively. When the movable portion is in the first position, the power source drives the toy vehicle into a wheelie. When the movable portion is in the second position, the power source drives the toy vehicle without driving the toy vehicle into a wheelie.

FIELD

The specification relates generally to toy vehicles and more particularly to a toy vehicle such as a motorcycle, that can perform different types of maneuver.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

There is a market desire for toy vehicles that can perform different types of maneuver in order to keep the user entertained. However, there are also conflicting market forces, such as a need to keep costs low for such products. Some toy vehicles that are capable of carrying out different maneuvers include the Upriser™ motorcycle by Spin Master Ltd. However, such a device can be expensive for some users, and requires time to learn how to use, and may therefore be less appropriate for use by some users. There is therefore a need for toy vehicles that can perform different types of maneuver to keep a user entertained and engaged, while remaining relatively low cost, and easy to use.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

In an aspect, a toy vehicle is provided and includes a main body, a plurality of wheels and a power source. The main body includes a fixed portion and a movable portion that is movably connected to the fixed position for movement between a first movable portion position and a second movable portion position. The plurality of wheels are rotatably mounted to the main body and positioned for rollably supporting the main body on a support surface. The plurality of wheels includes at least one driven wheel. The power source is supported by the main body and is operable to store energy therein, and is operatively connected to the at least one driven wheel so as to release stored energy to drive rotation of the at least one driven wheel, so as to drive the toy vehicle on the support surface. Positioning of the movable portion of the main body in the first movable portion position moves a center of gravity of the toy vehicle to a first CG position, and positioning of the movable portion of the main body in the second movable portion position moves the center of gravity of the toy vehicle to a second CG position. The movable portion is stable in the first movable portion position and in the second movable portion position. Wherein the movable portion of the main body is in the first movable portion position, release of the stored energy drives the toy vehicle into a wheelie while driving the toy vehicle on the support surface. When the movable portion of the main body is in the second movable portion position, release of the stored energy drives the toy vehicle on the support surface without driving the toy vehicle into a wheelie.

BRIEF DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the various embodiments described herein and to show more clearly how they may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example only, to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a toy vehicle according to a non-limiting embodiment of the present disclosure, while configured to perform a first maneuver.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the toy vehicle shown in FIG. 1 , while configured to perform a second maneuver.

FIG. 3A is a perspective view of the toy vehicle shown in FIG. 2 with some parts removed in order to show a detent mechanism and some pivot joints between selected components.

FIG. 3B is another perspective view of the toy vehicle shown in FIG. 2 , with parts removed in order to show a flywheel and gears connecting the flywheel to a rear wheel of the toy vehicle.

FIG. 4A is a side elevation view of the toy vehicle shown in FIG. 1 performing the first maneuver.

FIG. 4B is a plan view the toy vehicle shown in FIG. 2 tipped over, performing the second maneuver.

FIG. 4C is an elevation view of the toy vehicle shown in FIG. 2 tipped over performing the second maneuver.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the toy vehicle shown in FIG. 1 , illustrating a range of movement of a fork member of the toy vehicle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For simplicity and clarity of illustration, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the Figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. In addition, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiment or embodiments described herein. However, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments described herein may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures and components have not been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments described herein. It should be understood at the outset that, although exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the figures and described below, the principles of the present disclosure may be implemented using any number of techniques, whether currently known or not. The present disclosure should in no way be limited to the exemplary implementations and techniques illustrated in the drawings and described below.

Various terms used throughout the present description may be read and understood as follows, unless the context indicates otherwise: “or” as used throughout is inclusive, as though written “and/or”; singular articles and pronouns as used throughout include their plural forms, and vice versa; similarly, gendered pronouns include their counterpart pronouns so that pronouns should not be understood as limiting anything described herein to use, implementation, performance, etc. by a single gender; “exemplary” should be understood as “illustrative” or “exemplifying” and not necessarily as “preferred” over other embodiments. Further definitions for terms may be set out herein; these may apply to prior and subsequent instances of those terms, as will be understood from a reading of the present description. It will also be noted that the use of the term “a” or “an” will be understood to denote “at least one” in all instances unless explicitly stated otherwise or unless it would be understood to be obvious that it must mean “one”.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the systems, apparatuses, and methods described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. For example, the components of the systems and apparatuses may be integrated or separated. Moreover, the operations of the systems and apparatuses disclosed herein may be performed by more, fewer, or other components and the methods described may include more, fewer, or other steps. Additionally, steps may be performed in any suitable order. As used in this document, “each” refers to each member of a set or each member of a subset of a set.

Reference is made to FIG. 1 , which shows a toy vehicle 10 in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. The toy vehicle 10 includes a main body 12, a plurality of wheels 14 and a power source 16. The main body 12 may, as in the example embodiment shown, include a representation of a vehicle body 18, and a representation of a vehicle driver 20. In the example embodiment shown, the toy vehicle 10 is in the form of a toy motorcycle, and so the representation of a vehicle body 18 is a representation of a motorcycle body, and the representation of a vehicle driver 20 is a representation of a helmeted motorcycle rider. While the helmeted motorcycle rider may have a human form, it is alternatively possible for the representation of a vehicle driver 20 to have any other form, such as a robot, an animal, a fictitious character or any other suitable form.

The main body 12 includes a fixed portion 22 and a movable portion 24 that is movably connected to the fixed position for movement between a first movable portion position shown in FIG. 1 , and a second movable portion position shown in FIG. 2 . In the embodiment shown, the movable portion 24 includes the torso and head (together referred to as a torso and head portion shown at 32), the upper arms shown at 34, and the lower arms shown at 36 of the motorcycle rider. The torso and head 32, the upper arms 34 and the lower arms 36 together may be said to constitute a first vehicle driver portion 38 that is articulatable relative to a second vehicle driver portion 39, which includes the legs (shown 40) of the motorcycle rider. In the embodiment shown, the upper arms 34 are pivotally mounted to the torso and head portion 32 via pivot joints 41 a, the lower arms 36 are pivotally mounted to the upper arms 34 via pivot joints 41 b, and the torso and head portion 32 is pivotally mounted to the second vehicle driver portion 39 via a pivot joint 41 c.

The plurality of wheels 14 are rotatably mounted to the main body, and are positioned for rollably supporting the main body 12 on a support surface G. The plurality of wheels 14 includes at least one driven wheel 26. In the embodiment shown, as noted above, the toy vehicle 10 is in the form of a toy motorcycle and the plurality of wheels 14 includes exactly one front wheel 14 a and exactly one rear wheel 14 b. In the embodiment shown, the at least one driven wheel 26 includes the rear wheel 14 b. More specifically, in the embodiment shown, the at least one driven wheel 26 is the rear wheel 14 b.

The power source 16 is supported by the main body 12 and is operable to store energy therein. In the embodiment shown, the power source includes a flywheel 28 (FIG. 3B), and thus, the energy stored by it is in the form of inertial kinetic energy. The power source 16 may be operatively connected to the at least one driven wheel 26 in any suitable way, so as to release stored energy to drive rotation of the at least one driven wheel 26, so as to drive the toy vehicle 10 on the support surface G. In the embodiment shown, the flywheel 28 is operatively connected to the rear wheel 14 b by a plurality of gears 30. The plurality of gears 30 are configured to provide a gear ratio between the rear wheel 14 b and the flywheel 28 selected such that the rotational speed of the flywheel 28 is higher than that of the rear wheel 14 b.

To charge the flywheel 28, the user may swipe the toy vehicle 10 along the support surface G one or more times to build up kinetic energy in the flywheel 28. At this point the user is holding the toy vehicle 10 and the flywheel 28 is releasing its stored kinetic energy to drive rotation of the rear wheel 14 b. The user can release the toy vehicle 10 on the support surface G, at which point the rotation of the flywheel 28 will drive continued rotation of the rear wheel 14 b until the kinetic energy in the flywheel 28 is consumed via friction (e.g. between the flywheel 28 and the main body 12, which rotatably supports the flywheel 28).

A role of the movable portion 24 of the main body 12 is described further below. Positioning of the movable portion 24 of the main body 12 in the first movable portion position moves a center of gravity CofG of the toy vehicle 10 to a first CG position as shown in FIG. 1 . Positioning of the movable portion 24 of the main body 12 in the second movable portion position moves the center of gravity CofG of the toy vehicle 10 to a second CG position as shown in FIG. 2 .

When the movable portion 24 of the main body 12 is in the first movable portion position, the position of the center of gravity CofG is such that, release of the stored energy of the power source 16 (e.g. when the user releases the toy vehicle 10 with the spinning flywheel 28 (and therefore spinning rear wheel 14 b) on the support surface G), drives the toy vehicle 10 into a wheelie (as shown in FIG. 4A) while driving the toy vehicle 10 on the support surface G. In other words, the center of gravity CofG is positioned sufficiently rearwardly on the toy vehicle 10 when the movable portion 24 of the main body 12 is in the first movable portion position, that the acceleration of the toy vehicle 10 that occurs when the user places the toy vehicle 10 on the support surface G causes the toy vehicle 10 to lift up into a wheelie. To stabilize the wheelie, i.e. to limit the angle of the wheelie, the toy vehicle 10 may include a stabilizer member 42, which in the present embodiment, may be an extended portion of the rear mudguard for the toy motorcycle.

When the movable portion 24 of the main body 12 is in the second movable portion position, release of the stored energy by the power source 16 drives the toy vehicle 10 on the support surface G without driving the toy vehicle into a wheelie 12. In other words, the center of gravity CofG is positioned sufficiently forwardly on the toy vehicle 10 when the movable portion 24 of the main body 12 is in the second movable portion position, that the acceleration of the toy vehicle 10 that occurs when the user places the toy vehicle 10 on the support surface G is below the amount needed to cause the toy vehicle 10 to lift up into a wheelie. In the embodiment shown, the toy vehicle 10 may drive along the support surface G for a period of time, as shown in FIG. 2 .

Optionally, if the toy vehicle 10 tips over while driving along the support surface G when the movable portion 24 of the main body 12 is in the second movable portion position, the toy vehicle 10 is configured to keep its at least one driven wheel 26 in contact with the support surface G, so that the at least one driven wheel 26 can continue to drive the toy vehicle 10 on the support surface G, as shown in FIGS. 4B and 4C. To this end, the main body 12 includes a fulcrum feature 44 that extends laterally on a first side 46 of the main body 12. The fulcrum feature 44 is positioned at a selected longitudinal position relative to the second CG position of the center of gravity CofG so as to hold the toy vehicle 10 with the at least one driven wheel 26 in contact with the support surface G, such that, when the movable portion 24 of the main body 12 is in the second movable portion position and the toy vehicle 10 is tipped over onto the first side 46 of the main body 12, the contact by the at least one driven wheel 24 with the support surface G drives the toy vehicle 10 on the support surface G while tipped over.

In the embodiment shown, the fulcrum feature 44 may be the knee of the motorcycle rider. FIGS. 4B and 4C show the toy vehicle 10 tipped over on the first side 46. As can be seen, the fulcrum feature 44 is in contact with the support surface G, and the rear wheel 14 b (which is the driven wheel 24) is also in contact with the support surface G.

As a result of the engagement of the at least one driven wheel 24 with the support surface G, the toy vehicle 10 may be driven in a generally circular pattern on the support surface G as a result of the position of the point at which the rear wheel 14 b contacts the support surface G relative to the center of gravity CofG.

This movement in a generally circular pattern on the support surface G may be referred to as a ‘burnout’ maneuver. Thus, the toy vehicle 10 may be configured to perform a first maneuver (namely, a wheelie, as described above) when the movable portion 24 is in the first movable portion position and may be configured to perform a second maneuver (the burnout maneuver), when the movable portion 24 is in the second movable portion position. It will be noted that the second maneuver could also be considered driving of the toy vehicle 10 on the support surface G while the toy vehicle 10 is upright (e.g. in the position as shown in FIG. 2 ).

It will be noted, that, if the toy vehicle 10 tips over onto its first side 46 while the movable portion 24 is in the first movable portion position, the toy vehicle 10 will also be held with the at least one driven wheel 26 in contact with the support surface G based on the relative longitudinal position of the fulcrum feature 44 relative to the first CG position of the center of gravity CofG so as to hold the toy vehicle 10 with the at least one driven wheel 26 in contact with the support surface G, resulting in driving the toy vehicle 10 in a circular pattern (i.e. the burnout maneuver) in similar manner to how the toy vehicle 10 is driven when tipped over when the movable portion 24 is in the second movable portion position, described above.

The fulcrum feature 44 may be a first fulcrum feature 44, and the main body 12 may further include a second fulcrum feature 56 that extends laterally on a second side 58 of the main body 12. The fulcrum feature 44 is positioned at a second selected longitudinal position relative to the second CG position of the center of gravity CofG so as to hold the toy vehicle 10 with the at least one driven wheel 26 in contact with the support surface G, as described above in relation to the first fulcrum feature 44, such that, when the movable portion 24 of the main body 12 is in the second movable portion position and the toy vehicle 10 is tipped over onto the second side 58 of the main body 12, the contact by the at least one driven wheel 24 with the support surface G drives the toy vehicle 10 on the support surface G while tipped over, in a circular pattern.

The movable portion 24 may be stable in both the first movable portion position. and in the second movable portion position. To this end, a detent mechanism 48 may be provided between the movable portion 24 and the fixed portion 22. In the embodiment shown the fixed portion 22 may include a plurality of detents shown at 50 and 52 (FIG. 3A), and the movable portion 24 may include a locking projection 54 that is resiliently able to move from the first detent 50 to the second detent 52 and back again to the first detent 50 to hold the movable portion 24 in the first movable portion position or the second movable portion position, respectively. Alternatively, the movable portion 24 may be stable in the first and second positions simply be adding a sufficient amount of friction into the joint between the movable and fixed portions 24 and 22.

While the entire fixed portion 22 of the main body may be actually fixed in place, it is alternatively possible that some movement may be permitted, while not affecting the position of the center of gravity CofG of the toy vehicle 10 sufficiently to permit two different maneuvers to be performed. For example, the front wheel 14 a of the toy vehicle 10 may be mounted on a fork member 60 that is permitted to pivot a bit relative to the rest of the toy vehicle 10. This pivoting movement of the front wheel 14 a may facilitate tipping of the toy vehicle 10 onto one of its first and second sides 46 and 58 in order to cause it to operate the burnout maneuver. As noted above, since the different possible positions of the fork member 60 throughout its pivoting range of movement do not move the center of gravity CofG of the toy vehicle sufficiently to permit or prevent the toy vehicle 10 from entering into a particular maneuver, for the purposes described herein the fork member 60 is still considered to be part of the fixed portion 22 of the main body 12. More specifically, it will be noted that, in all positions of the fork member in the range of movement when the movable portion of the main body is in the first movable portion position, release of the stored energy drives the toy vehicle into a wheelie while driving the toy vehicle on the support surface. The range of movement of the fork member 60 is shown at Ap in FIG. 5 .

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that there are yet more alternative implementations and modifications possible, and that the above examples are only illustrations of one or more implementations. The scope, therefore, is only to be limited by the claims appended hereto and any amendments made thereto. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A toy vehicle, comprising: a main body, wherein the main body includes a fixed portion and a movable portion that is movably connected to the fixed position for movement between a first movable portion position and a second movable portion position; a plurality of wheels that are rotatably mounted to the main body and positioned for rollably supporting the main body on a support surface, wherein the plurality of wheels includes at least one driven wheel; and a power source that is supported by the main body and is operable to store energy therein, and is operatively connected to the at least one driven wheel so as to release stored energy to drive rotation of the at least one driven wheel, so as to drive the toy vehicle on the support surface, wherein positioning of the movable portion of the main body in the first movable portion position moves a center of gravity of the toy vehicle to a first CG position, and positioning of the movable portion of the main body in the second movable portion position moves the center of gravity of the toy vehicle to a second CG position, wherein, when the movable portion of the main body is in the first movable portion position, release of the stored energy drives the toy vehicle into a wheelie while driving the toy vehicle on the support surface, and wherein, when the movable portion of the main body is in the second movable portion position, release of the stored energy drives the toy vehicle on the support surface without driving the toy vehicle into a wheelie.
 2. A toy vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the main body includes a fulcrum feature that extends laterally on a first side of the main body, and wherein the fulcrum feature is positioned at a selected longitudinal position relative to the second CG position of the center of gravity so as to hold the toy vehicle with the at least one driven wheel in contact with the support surface, such that, when the movable portion of the main body is in the second movable portion position and the toy vehicle is tipped over onto the first side of the main body, the contact by the at least one driven wheel with the support surface drives the toy vehicle on the support surface while tipped over.
 3. A toy vehicle as claimed in claim 2, wherein the fulcrum feature is a first fulcrum feature and the main body includes a second fulcrum feature that extends laterally on a second side of the main body, and wherein the second fulcrum feature is positioned at a second selected longitudinal position relative to the second CG position of the center of gravity so as to hold the toy vehicle with the at least one driven wheel in contact with the support surface, such that, when the movable portion of the main body is in the second movable portion position and the toy vehicle is tipped over onto the second side of the main body, the contact by the at least one driven wheel with the support surface drives the toy vehicle on the support surface while tipped over.
 4. A toy vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the toy vehicle has exactly one front wheel and exactly one rear wheel and wherein the at least one driven wheel includes the rear wheel.
 5. A toy vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the power source is a flywheel.
 6. A toy vehicle as claimed in claim 5, wherein the flywheel is connected to the rear wheel via a plurality of gears.
 7. A toy vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the main body includes a representation of a vehicle body and a representation of a vehicle driver, and wherein the representation of the vehicle driver includes a first vehicle driver portion that is articulatable relative to a second vehicle driver portion, wherein the first vehicle driver portion is the first movable portion.
 8. A toy vehicle as claimed in claim 4, wherein the fixed portion of the main body includes a fork member that holds the front wheel, wherein the fork member is pivotable relative to a remainder of the fixed portion of the main body through a range of movement, wherein, in all positions of the fork member in the range of movement when the movable portion of the main body is in the first movable portion position, release of the stored energy drives the toy vehicle into a wheelie while driving the toy vehicle on the support surface.
 9. A toy vehicle as claimed in claim 1, wherein the movable portion is stable in the first movable portion position and in the second movable portion position. 